Al Joersz

SMU’s Lyle School of Engineering will open a laboratory modeled after a Lockheed Martin research center that ranks among the most innovative in the world. The University’s Lockheed Martin Skunk Works® Lab will open in December 2009 and will emulate the “flat management” style forged by Lockheed’s original Skunk Works® plant in Palmdale, California. Faculty members will work with students as team members rather than bosses, says Engineering Dean Geoffrey Orsak (right). The school’s partnership with Lockheed is part of a plan to educate more qualified engineers to fill current and anticipated shortages.